Parents of children killed in the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School urged the Supreme Court on Wednesday to uphold the type of ban on assault rifles they pushed to enact after the tragedy.
The amicus, or friend-of-the-court, brief filed by the group Sandy Hook Promise, which also includes relatives of educators killed that day, comes ahead of a major case in which the justices will weigh the constitutionality of the Connecticut ban and those in about a dozen other states.
The case is one of the most significant on guns to reach the justices in several years and will test whether the high court is willing to take another major step in loosening firearms regulations.
The AR-15 is the nation’s most popular rifle and a potent symbol. It has become an emblem of Second Amendment rights for some gun enthusiasts, and a target for those who want stricter gun controls because that type of firearm has been used in many mass shootings.
The brief from the Sandy Hook relatives is unusually personal, describing the agonizing wait some had for news of their children after the 2012 shooting and the devastating wounds some of the victims suffered.
The shooting claimed the lives of 20 first graders and six staff members at the school. It remains one of the worst school shootings in the nation’s history. The shooter used an AR-15 with a large-capacity magazine to carry out the attack.
Sandy Hook Promise was founded by the parents of Dylan Hockley, 6, who was killed in the shooting, and the husband of Mary Sherlach, a school psychologist, who also was slain. The group works to prevent school shootings.
Nicole Hockley, Dylan’s mother and the CEO of Sandy Hook Promise, said the group supports the right to bear arms, but that the lethality of the AR-15 makes it a particularly dangerous weapon.
During the Sandy Hook shooting, the gunman fired 154 rounds in five minutes. The group says assault rifles have been used in six mass shootings at schools since Sandy Hook.
“We made a promise to protect our surviving children and honor the legacy of those who died, but also do whatever we can to prevent future tragedies,” Hockley said. “We believe very strongly after Sandy Hook that the people of Connecticut came together and did what free people in a free state are supposed to do. Through their elected representatives, they decided how to best protect their citizens and kids. That right belongs to every state.”
Gun rights groups and gun owners are challenging the assault-rifle bans, saying they violate the Second Amendment right to bear arms. The Supreme Court will examine the Connecticut ban and a second that is law in Chicago.
“The AR-15 platform rifle is the modern descendant of the rifles that were borne by the militiamen of the Revolution and the pioneers who struck out West in search of a better life,” the gun groups and owners wrote in filings. “The question can be fairly asked, if the Second Amendment does not protect it, what could it possibly protect?”
The groups did not address the AR-15’s use in mass shootings in their petition to the Supreme Court. The Trump administration is backing the gun groups and owners.
The parents argue state bans on assault rifles are in keeping with the Supreme Court’s precedents, which have allowed the regulation of unusually dangerous weapons. They also point out Connecticut has not had a mass shooting since Sandy Hook.
The Supreme Court has curtailed gun regulation in recent years, most notably in the 2022 decision that struck down a New York law requiring a license to carry a firearm in public.
That decision, New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, found that any gun restrictions must have roots in the nation’s history and traditions. The ruling has led to a host of challenges to gun restrictions across the country.
The Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case on Dec. 3. A decision is expected by June or July. The case has already drawn a range of friend-of-the-court briefs from gun rights groups, legal scholars and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
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